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Science Olympiad

On March 25th Holmes Science Club competed in the Iowa Science Olympiad at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Teams from across the state competed for the right to represent Iowa at the national competition in Dayton, Ohio in May. The Olympiad consists of 23 events ranging from tests on anatomy or meteorology to building and flying an electric hovercraft.

Holmes Jr. High came in third in the state with Mount Vernon coming in 2nd and returning champion Ames winning again this year. Holmes strong showing came despite not taking a single first in any of the events. Science Club coach Jim Duff said "This truly was a team effort. We did not take home any gold medals but we took many silver and bronzes and we were competitive in every single event."

This was the 17th year that Holmes Jr. High Science Club has competed in the Olympiad. Wade Olson coached the team for 16 of those years but with his retirement last year the team needed some new blood in the coaching position. Amanda Johnson was added to the coaching staff several years ago but she was on maternity leave at the time of the Olympiad. So this year the team turned to new teachers Logan Mork and Rob Welter to fill out the coaching staff

The team also received vital help in the building events from IT teacher Ryan Weiss. Mr. Weiss helped with building a tower made to be light and withstand increasing stress and with the Scrambler, a gravity driven car that had to drive an egg through an obstacle course. Holmes took third place in the Scrambler.

Holmes Science Club also received assistance from the Plassman family. Seventh grader Simon competed on the team and his parents, April and Barry helped the team get ready for the contest. Mr. Plassman also accompanied the team to the competition as a parent coach. Simon medaled twice, taking third in Scrambler with Chris Sell and third in Hovercraft wit Aala Akaff.

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